Born: March 16, 1922
Died: May 29, 2016
Dominick Nizza passed away at the age of 94. A long time resident of Ridgewood the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Robert Street,” had quite a life even before landing in Ridgewood where he purchased his home in the “Lawns” back in 1948.
Born in Jersey City in 1922 to Italian immigrants some of Dominick’s earliest memories revolve around music, a lifetime passion he has carried throughout his many careers. His father was a shoemaker who once traded shoe repairs to a customer in exchange for singing and violin lessons for Dominick at the age of 10.
He graduated from Union City High School where he played in the marching band. During WWII Dominick entered into service with the U.S. Army as a mechanical engineer and worked for Bell Laboratories in New York.
Dominick learned to dance before entering the service, which would come in handy later in life when he opened up three Arthur Murray dance studios in New York City and then three of his own studios in New Jersey.
Dom became an “unofficial matchmaker” for his fellow servicemen while in Texas. When they left the base to unwind in local taverns he would dance with women and then introduce them to his friends. He would dance with a gal, and say “’Well, I want you to meet Joe and so it went. Then back in the barracks he would start to teach the guys some simple steps, the Lindy Hop and various basic dance moves. That’s when he came home one day and figured, “Gee, I could make money in the dance business”. Dominick opened up Antoine Studios, which then changed to Dale Studios when he began teaching dance instructors.
As a dance instructor he met his wife of 56 years, Mary, and six months later they were married and lived in North Bergen for a short period. They moved to “The Lawns” section of Ridgewood. He bought one of the 450 homes built for $10,250, a price far less than what the average village homeowner now pays in Ridgewood’s annual taxes.
Tapping into his background as a dancer and tumbler, Dominick Nizza and Tony Napier started a gymnastics program at Ridgewood High School. He helped to raise money in 1969 to purchase the school’s basic gymnastic equipment, and arranged to hold a gymnastics open house with professional gymnasts.
Dominick was involved with the Frank Thorne Chapter of barbershop singers, and would regularly put out a newsletter for barbershop news well before computers became widespread. He worked with the Public Relations Officers Bulletin Editors (PROBE) to send out information on barbershop groups and activities.
After working in a machine shop and owning his own personnel agency Dom began another career as a clerk in the County Courthouse in Hackensack. He would serve there for 25 years and became president of the Bergen County Superior Court Clerks Association.
He raised four sons with his wife Mary who passed away in 2001. Dominick was active in local politics and was an avid gardener who loved to giveaway tomato plants and flowers to everyone.
He is survived by four sons: Phil. Tom, John and Chris and four grandsons.
Funeral service will be held Friday, June 3 2016 at 8:00 PM at the C C Van Emburgh Funeral Home, 306 E Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 & 6 to 8 PM
